FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon has called for the Sue Gray report to be released in full - but added that the Prime Minister had "misled parliament" regardless.
Speaking ahead of First Minister's Questions in Holyrood, Sturgeon told ITV Border that the report should not be redacted or edited, and should be released for public consumption "immediately".
It comes amid intense speculation surrounding when Gray, the civil servant tasked with investigating rule breaking in Number 10 and Whitehall, will finally send the report to the Prime Minister.
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It is expected that the PM will then release the report, in full, a few hours after Downing Street has received it.
According to the PM's spokesperson, this has not happened yet.
Speaking ahead of FMQs, the First Minister backed calls for it to be published as soon as possible.
Speaking to ITV Border, she said: “The report should be published immediately after Boris Johnson receives it and published in full.
The First Minister made the comments ahead of FMQs in Holyrood
“The longer he was to sit on it the more suspicion people would have about what he might be doing to it.”
Sturgeon also said that, regardless of the report by Sue Gray, the Prime Minister “misled parliament”.
She added: “Everybody is really keen to see what Sue Gray concludes, obviously.
“But I think it’s really hard to imagine anything she could say that would change what we already know from what’s on the record and that’s that Boris Johnson misled parliament and I think that’s the severity of the position he’s in.”
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Johnson has said on record today that he will publish the Gray report in full - but would not give a timescale.
The PM told reporters during a visit to North Wales: “I can’t really say any more than what I said yesterday about that.”
Asked if he was personally delaying the report, he replied: “Absolutely not but you’ve got to let the independent inquiries go on.”
The Gray report is not an "independent inquiry". It is being conducted by UK Government staff and Johnson will have the final say on how much of it is released.
The Prime Minister went on: “What I hope people understand is that while we wait for all that to go on, you’ve got to get on, and the Government is getting on with our work.
Johnson on a site visit in Penmaenmawr, North Wales, on Thursday
“So it’s clearing the Covid backlogs but also making sure that we help to fix the cost of living crisis and help to address the issues with inflation by helping to move people off welfare into work.”
And, Downing Street has rejected Tory MP Mark Harper’s concerns about any attempt to “conceal or suppress crucial details”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “We are in no way seeking to block the report nor are we seeking to do as Mark Harper suggests.
“It remains our intention to publish the report as it is received from the investigation.”
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